10 Fall Traditions for your Family

Fall in California is much different from any other place, we’re lucky to hit the 70’s by the first week of November. Family traditions are a huge part of my childhood. I remember making ghost lollipops with my Ma (grandma) every Halloween. Then decorating her cozy little house with DIY Ghosts for her trees, we loved decorating the yard for the holidays.

Traditions become Childhood Memories

As a family with divorced parents, we had different traditions with each parent. Now that I have my two little dudes, we like to explore and baking when we get a chance (even if it’s a boxed cake). My mom would always take us to my Ma’s house for the first Trick-Or-Treat stop, and we got to show our grandparents the fun Halloween Costumes we picked. My dad had his camping traditions, taking us off roading and we’d roast marshmallows over the campfire.

I’ve put together a list of 10 fall traditions for your family. Don’t feel overwhelmed to do them all, even selecting one for your kids will make them happy little campers.

Bake your Favorite Dessert 🥧

Sonny started baking with me at 2 years old, I’m no Betty Crocker but we sure do love her boxed cake mix 😄 We’ve made lots of memories baking a $1 cake mix and topping them with frosting and sprinkles. There’s no rules when it comes to baking and family traditions. I love that my boys enjoy spending time with me in the kitchen. When I have more time to bake with the boys, we’ll make my favorite, 🍋 Lemon Bars, view the recipe post here.

Carve or Decorate Pumpkins Together

We have been thankful to live in a family oriented community, Ernie and I took the boys to our local Community Center’s Halloween Party. The city supplied all of the pumpkins, decorating crafts, candy, bounce houses, kid friendly maze, and so much more. You can check out your local City Hall website and social channels for information about local events. These are the perfect places to build memories with your kids at a much less expense.

Pay it Forward, Share the Experience

Paying it forward doesn’t always have to be a financial assistance, this also includes volunteering. Ernie and I have done our little shares of paying it forward during the holidays, we sponsored a Thanksgiving Dinner for a family, we always donate to local Toy Drives, but you can also donate your time. This year he is driving Veterans in a local parade, as a Veteran himself, I like that he is sharing the experience with our boys.

Disneyland for the Holidays 🎠

It’s nice to sprinkle a little bit of magic into your holidays. This year we took the boys to Disneyland during the Halloween festivities. They loved it! You can check out my blog post on How to Save Money at Disneyland, it sure helped us with budgeting for our family Disney adventure!

Visit a Pumpkin Patch 🎃

I absolutely love visiting any pumpkin patch, it’s always so nice to see the different activities that our family can enjoy. Some are located on farms, which is always my favorite because we can checkout the animals and enjoy the petting interaction. Plus, it’s a perfect Kodak Moment photography spot, those fall colors can be the best family portrait background.

Have a Family Movie Night

This is something that I personally wish I could commit to, it’s difficult to get our 3-year-old, Zachary, to sit through a movie. As he grows older we can settle into a movie night once a week. Maybe you can watch scary movies during October to enjoy the Halloween festivities. Currently, we have Friday Night Pizza, which works for us and our little weekly routine. This gives me some slack on cooking and we go play with cousins and family for the evening while visiting my grandpa.

Go Horseback Riding 🐎

I love when we head to our local Ranch for Sonny’s horseback riding lessons. We started him at 2.5 years old but recently have skipped out on lessons within the last year. However, now he’s sparking even more interest in going back. They learn so much and it’s awesome to just go let the morning slow down for a few hours.

Visit a Haunted Halloween House or Enjoy a Halloween Party

Every year my family will host a small get together, which is a kids Halloween party. It’s fun and the kids love to wear their costumes, play and eat cupcakes. We limit the candy because they will have so much on Halloween night. Games, good food, prizes and memories are all at our family Halloween parties. We normally have 10+ kids and that alone is a party within itself.

Attend a Football Game

Cheer on your local high school and join in on the loud chanting. Grab a few pretzels, nachos and cheer for your neighbors, your friends, your family! Football season is in full swing during the fall so it’s a perfect way to hit up your Friday Night with friends and a good game.

Make S’mores and Hot Cocoa ☕

I love melted marshmallows, it’s part of the cozy feels when fall creeps in and winter is on its way! These are simple little memories that you can create with your family. You don’t have to spend a ton of money, the hot cocoa and s’mores can all be purchased at your local dollar store and watch a fun movie on Netflix.

I’d love to hear what your family traditions are, it may be something that we would love to try! Maybe a birthday homemade dinner? Your family recipe for the best cookies?